Life Stories #51: Ellen Stimson

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photo: Natalie Stultz

In this episode of Life Stories, the podcast series where I talk to memoir writers about their lives and the art of writing memoir, Ellen Stimson and I discuss Mud Season—the story of, as the subtitle says, “how one woman’s dream of moving to Vermont, raising children, chickens and sheep, and running the old country store pretty much led to one calamity after another.” And, as I say at the start of our conversation, this memoir does exactly what it says on the cover.

But Stimson got through all those calamities—including getting in way over her head with the whole country store thing—and, when I got to a point where I could ask what she’d tell other people who, like her and her family, decide they want to make a drastic change in their lives, to do something other than what they’re doing, in a place other than where they are now, her response was clear: “Do it.” (That’s not to say she wouldn’t do things differently if she had a second chance, and we talk about that, too…) Stimson’s life story is a great example of recovering from our mistakes and setbacks and eventually find our way to an ideal path.

Listen to Life Stories #51: Ellen Stimson (MP3 file); or download this file directly by right-clicking (Mac users, option-click). You can also subscribe to Life Stories in iTunes, where you can catch up with earlier episodes and be alerted whenever a new one is released. (And if you are an iTunes subscriber, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast!)

4 November 2013 | life stories |